Hey y'all -

Been a long time since I have posted, but I am still driving the Brown Mound, 1984 GSL-SE with 207,000 miles on it. Last time I bought tires was in 2007 and they were old stock when I bought them. I think these tires are at least 14 years old and falling apart - not safe for highway speeds.

I need tires in a bad way, but I am having trouble finding them. The only thing Discount Tire has in a 205/60R14 is a Nankang tire, not sure how good those are. He also offered me a Kuhmo Solus KR21 195/65R14 tire, which is a little narrower and a little bit taller, but it supposedly fits. it's a touring tire.

What do you guys use for tires for these cars? Anyone tried subbing out the 195/65/R14 on GSL-SE rims with good results?

Right on,
Mike

 

Nankang is a Chinese Tire I believe. Probably not your best option. Nexen (korean) makes a 205/60-14 tire (model number CP641). Probably a better option. You can also find 195/60-14 tires in more popular brands. When I bought my SE, it had 195/65-14's. Looked a little narrow. I solved the problem by switching to 15" wheels with 205/60-15's.

 

Yeah, one reason I don't want to go to 195 is I think they may look too narrow. Another reason is I am already tight on the fender during turns and I think the 195/65 may rub a bit more. Prefer to keep it 205/60R14. I will look into the Nexan.

I'm really not that picky, but would prefer a sporty tire. Anything is better than the dry rotted time bombs I have on there now.

 

I remember you. You always say "Right on" at the end of most of your posts for some reason.

I got a brown GSL-SE which also has tires from the 90s. Fun times! It needs new ones before I'll take it on the freeway, but the around town stuff is fine. They even work fine wet, which is kinda surprising. Gonna get new tires pretty soon so this thread is helpful to me.

Left off!

 

195 60 14 offers more choices. They'll work just fine.

 

Thanks. 195 would work but would be more narrow I guess it might look ok, would even be easier to turn (since i have power steering without the power steering pump)

 

Compared to the original stock size, 195's are still quite a bit wider.

 

The GSL-SE stock size is 205, I think the GS and GSL maybe had the narrower tires?

 

195 60 R14 is what mine has. Lots of tread left too.

 

The non-SE cars came with 185/70-13 and the -SE came with 205/60-14. The difference in the width is 20mm which is like 0.78". It's not a huge difference. With the 195/60-14 that you're thinking of running you're only 10mm narrower than stock for the -SE and actually 10mm wider than stock for the non-SE, so I'd say that you've got plenty of contact patch there.

I'd be less worried about how narrow they are, and more aware of the change in circumference. Since you're changing the width (from 205mm to 195mm) but not changing the sidewall height (still 60% of the width) or the rim size (still 14"), you're ending up with a tire that's 1.5% smaller than stock. It's not a lot, but it's something to keep in mind. I've seen a lot of places recommend not to change by more than 2%, so honestly it's probably just fine. You'll just have to keep in mind that your speedometer will be off by a little bit.

A 195/65-14 would be off by less than 1% (0.93% larger to be specific), and TireRack shows two choices in that size. The General Altimax RT, and the Kumho Solus KR21. I'd go with those. And for folks with the non-SE wondering how this size would stack up, it's an even closer match. 10mm wider and only 0.68% larger, but of course you'd have to change to 14" rims.

Cheers,

Jon

 

Good information there, Jon. You beat me to it, but just for good reference, a tire diameter calculator:

Tire size calculator

 

I'm new to this forum so please forgive me if I'm screwing up. Being a 85SE purists I chose the Nankings. Wasn't really many options. Two I think. They were cheap in price and I really fretted whether or not I wanted Chinese tires but I'm actually quite satisfied with them. the tread pattern is cool even for a touring tire. I really want to upsize to 15's but this was my best option to keep it totally stock. I read plenty of negative reviews on these but I'm not going to be one of them. My FB is never driven in rain so I can't say if they're good in wet conditions. That's my two cents!! Tool and die guy